Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Telewest surrenders

Jason Nisse
Sunday 06 August 2000 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Adam Singer, chief executive of the troubled cable TV group Telewest, has signalled that he would be willing to talk to its main rival, NTL, about being taken over.

Adam Singer, chief executive of the troubled cable TV group Telewest, has signalled that he would be willing to talk to its main rival, NTL, about being taken over.

The group's shares have collapsed from a high of 565p in March to just 160p at the end of last week as it revealed delays to its digital TV service and disappointing subscriber figures. It is currently worth £4.6bn.

Mr Singer said that, though no talks were being held at the moment, to consider a possible deal with NTL was "legitimate speculation". "I don't see a great glory in independence - there is an advantage in leveraging the networks," he said.

Mr Singer said that there were great business advantages in Telewest and NTL coming together to create one cable TV company, but "it is hard to see how we would put together the financial issues".

NTL, which said it was not about to buy Telewest, has around $10bn of debts, much in junk bonds, and has seen its share price fall by more than half this year.

The US-based group purchased CWC Communications, the number three cable TV group, earlier this year, and has set about aggressively acquiring sports rights and programming. It also launched an unmetered internet access service, prompting some others to follow suit.

Though NTL has been seen as an aggressive player in the market, Mr Singer said that he is convinced that Telewest is undervalued by the market because of its strong position in broadband cable, which allows high speed internet access.

"God is on the side of those who have the most bandwidth, and we have the most bandwidth," he said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in